by Shiloh White
“Mija, are you alive? Did you break anything? Can you hear me? What in the world were you thinking going up against Disorder? You know that's Disorder, right?!"
“Yeah...dark...and cold.” I answered, the room spinning. “Did you..."
I forced myself to stand, using the wall as support. I could barely feel my legs, and they wobbled beneath me.
“Take it easy! You could've died.” Woodstock said, putting his hands out to help me. I pushed it away and looked around at the building. The five tornadoes were digging into the ground deeper and deeper, turning up the ground into rubble.
“Did you get all the Agents?"
Woodstock 'tsk'-ed. “Chug got most of the ones near the tornadoes, but...we're not going to have enough time for everyone. We can't outrun Disorder.” Amid the chaos, I noticed Chug still looking for Agents to Zone-Hop over to us.
“Woodstock,” I sighed, “We don't have to out-run him. We just have to get everyone safe before he can start running.” Woodstock tilted his head at me.
“What does that even mean?"
“This place is coming down when Disorder arises.” I told him. “That's what Damian said. There's stuff falling here and there, but the building is still standing. That means we still have time to get everyone out. Get somewhere—”
My stomach must have finally caught up with me, because I launched into a coughing fit. “Get somewhere safe and re-group,” I finally managed to say. “Maybe even get help."
“Lucy,” Woodstock said, his brown eyes showing that glassy stare of emptiness again, “you're not getting it. No matter how much help we get, Disorder is going to come after us. And he's going to win. The Academy's spent years drilling that knowledge into me. I couldn't forget his power if I wanted to. It's hopeless—"
I reached over and slapped him across his cheek.
“Don't say that word.” I told him. “You can't say that word."
I could only imagine how this place—how much his mother—was affecting him. But as weak of a hit I managed, it seemed to perk his eyes back into focus up out of that glassy stare, even filling with tears. (I swear it wasn't that hard. I was just thrown from a tornado—how much strength could I have right now?)
“We didn't come this far,” I said, “chase a homeless guy, fight his insane granddaughter for a cloak, break out of the Depression Force, survive Bartholomew Stark, and take on a brainwashed and kidnapped army of Depression Agents just to give up now."
“You also got sucked into one of Disorder's tempest clouds.” Woodstock added.
“Too soon,” I shuddered. “The point is we have to try. Until we actually do get swallowed up by Disorder, we have to try to save our friends."
I cared too much to die. Too much to give up. I cared too much to watch my friend give in to the darkness and give up now. I wanted Woodstock to understand we had a goal to save our friends, and prove our innocence to the Depression force.
Ironically, I also cared too much to notice one of the giant pillars next to me had begun to crumble. I didn't realize what was happening until a sickening CRACK came from above. Woodstock's face morphed into an expression of horror.
“Look out!” he shouted, and dashed to push me out of the way.
The place was coming down now. Maybe our time was up. These thoughts haunted the few seconds while I looked up at the balcony crashing down on us. It was way too big to just jump out of the way of.
Woodstock still moved to save me, jumping into the path of the rubble himself.
Then everything went black.
50. My Depression And I Join Forces
I was pretty sure we were dead. I just couldn’t prove it.
The balcony must have destroyed all feeling in my body, since I couldn't feel the pressure of the rubble on top of us. I couldn't see anything either. The only sense that bothered to work was my hearing, so I just listened to the rumbling crash of falling debris around me. I closed my eyes and waited for my last breath.
But I couldn't believe this was it. I just got done telling Woodstock how far we came, and for what? Stabbed with a syringe? Nope. Sliced up by a bloodthirsty cop? Think again.
Crushed by a falling banister. I took in another wheezy breath.
What about my family? They would have no idea I was even here. No clue how I died. The entire Zone was going to be swallowed by Disorder, which would include me. My heart wrenched when I realized Anna would never know either. What would it do to her? To little Chloe? I hated myself for choosing these as my last thoughts.
Another rumbling crash came from above, reverberating all around me and coming back even later. Great. Now my hearing was losing it. What a way to go. Except...
The crash came from quite a ways above me, yet I heard it clearly. Which I guess could make sense since it was probably at the top of the pile. Only, I couldn't hear anything else. No tempest clouds. No laughing Headmistress. Nothing.
Suddenly, I felt a jolt of movement from my big toe. It spread to my feet and I realized I couldn't be dying. I wiggled it around and it moved, no debris holding it in place. But how?
I moved to sit up, but all of a sudden, I could feel the pressure keeping me flat on the ground. I was still stuck under something, just not rubble. I couldn't tell what until it groaned in pain above me.
Woodstock!
“Woodstock, can you hear me?” I said, my voice just a whispering croak. “We're not dead, but I can't breathe.” Woodstock said nothing, but must have heard me since he grunted and painfully rolled off of me. I was glad he was alive.
I rose to my feet, slowly. Being shoved aside by Woodstock almost felt as painful as what I figured getting punched by him would feel like.
“Are you okay?” asked a familiar deep and accented voice. I turned around and saw the source of the voice gripping a dimly lit lamppost.
“Mr. Gordon!” I started to run towards him, but I skidded to a halt when I noticed the person next to him. I almost didn't recognize him, since the last time I saw him he wore a black-and-white striped outfit, an unbelievably perky smile, and a name tag that read 'Justin'. Oh, and he tried to kill me by driving into a wall.
Could just about anyone come back from the dead if they wanted? (If so, can we bring back Bob Ross, please?)
“What are you doing here?” I asked, fairly certain I'd died after all—or at least that I hit my head really hard.
In the dim light, I saw his smile and name tag were gone, and his outfit was replaced with a black t-shirt and jeans, and an aviator jacket. He could have introduced himself as Victor, and I might have believed him.
Justin took a step forward, taking his hand off the lamppost.
“I could ask you the—"
“Please.” Gordon said, looking at Justin. “This is not what we came for. Lucy, what's happened since you arrived here?"
“The short version,” Justin added, “please.”
I filled them in on what happened as quickly as I could make sense. Somewhere along the way, Woodstock rose to his feet and helped me explain it all.
Gordon sighed when we reached the end, still keeping one hand on the lamppost. “That's about what we expected,” he said, “which means we've got hardly any time left. You've gotta go get the rest of the Agents in here now!"
“Why?” Woodstock asked.
“Where even are we?” I asked. “I mean, I've been here before, but where is here? And how do we get back to the Academy?” Gordon looked at Justin for the answer.
“We don't have any more time to explain things!” Justin barked in the complete opposite of an unbelievably perky voice. “Just follow me. And hurry."
He put one hand on Woodstock's back and the other on mine, and shoved us out through the edge of where the light went.
Then we were thrust into light and the muffled noises around us became clear. We were back in the Academy.
I turned around to see where we'd came from, and sitting right where I was about to be crushed was a huge solid black dome. It replace
d the balcony completely, shoving the rubble to either side.
“What are you doing here?” Woodstock asked.
I turned back around to see what he was talking about and the sight that awaited me was even crazier.
✽✽✽
Standing a few feet away from us were the ragtag group of kids I met in their secret bookstore base what seemed like a forever ago. They were all working in pairs to rush the remaining Agents away from the tornadoes. One young boy helped Chug pull a bulky looking dude into the black dome.
“It's the Abandoned!” I said. “What are they doing here?"
Chug wiped the sweat off his forehead. “I couldn't believe it either. When Disorder knocked out the pillars, I thought you guys were...” He shook his head. “Anyway, then this black thing appeared and all these guys started popping out of it. They told me you were fine, so we got back to work.”
Chug gestured back to the scene around him.
Even Jamie, the little kid who lost the arm wrestle was helping. He walked past us pulling an Agent by the arm, while Mikey carried the Agent's legs. There was intense focus in his eyes toward the black dome ahead of him.
They lugged him into the dome and Mikey turned to face us, putting his hands on his hips.
“Why are you here?” Woodstock asked.
“After Mr. Reggie found out what was happening,” Mikey answered, “he sent us to come with Gordon and help in any way we can."
“Mr. Reggie knows what's going on?” I asked. “We never made it back to tell him, so how did—"
“You know,” Justin said, “for someone who just got saved by reinforcements, you ask a lot of questions we don't have time for. Now what's your plan here?"
Chug looked from me to Justin and tilted his head at me in confusion.
“Who the heck is this?” he asked.
Justin looked at Chug and sized him up.
“My name's help, kid. And you should appreciate that I'm even here.” Then Justin turned back to me, giving me an impatient look that made me feel whatever the reason, it was my fault he was here. For all I knew, it might have been.
“It's pretty much all we know too.” Woodstock shrugged. I nodded, like he was speaking for both of us.
I watched the rest of the Abandoned bring over who I figured were the last few Agents, then they joined our group. One of the last ones to come was Alfonso, the boy who bullied Jamie. Now he looked about ready to pee his pants. I watched him hurry to lift an Agent and just about throw him into the black dome before running over to us.
I guessed we couldn't all be as calm as I pretended we were in the face of Disorder.
“Justin's right,” I said once they were all there. “We don't have much time left. Once this building comes down, Disorder will rise."
“Fantastic.” Mikey pointed out. “What are we supposed to do?"
“We came here to bring our friends back,” I told him, “so that's what we're going to do."
“You know,” Justin added, “For friends, they look real ready to fight us."
“I hope they are,” Chug said, pulling out his silver gun. “Cause so am I. I've had it up to here with the Headmistress."
“I couldn't have said it better.” I said. “It's the Headmistress' fault this is happening, so consider everyone else a friend to be saved, not just an enemy to punch. Got it?"
The Abandoned threw up roars and shouts—and basically just a lot of yelling—of agreement. Some of them raised their fists. Others pulled out things to use as weapons. Mikey removed a pair of binoculars from around his neck and held them in his hand like he was ready to bash someone in the head.
“Lucy, hold on,” Woodstock said. “Part of the reason we came here was to save the Abandoned. I don't think it’s right—or safe, for that matter—for them to fight. This is Disorder we're up against. And an army. And my mother, a Zone Holder."
I studied the look in his eyes, which weren't glassy like before. They showed fear, but it was rational. He wasn't having another panic attack. He just cared about these kids. I didn't expect him to get all mushy and say it out loud, but this was his family. His real family, and they were about to help take on his monster of a mother. How could anyone feel right about that? And how could I tell him to suck it up?
Thankfully, Mikey did it for me.
“Look, man,” he said to Woodstock, “if you and Chug get to fight, so do the rest of us. Those are our friends out there too.”
Woodstock grumbled and started cracking his knuckles. “Fine. But if you can't hack it, fall back."
“Same goes for you, big guy,” Mikey said. I couldn't help cracking a smile.
“If we want to get them back to the dome,” I said, “we'll have to hit them hard enough to knock them out. Too hard or they'll evaporate and wake up somewhere else in the Academy. And if you can Zone-Hop, leave the fighting to the others. Get them back to the dome.”
Woodstock nodded as if this was the conclusion he'd already came to. Chug smirked at me and turned his eyes forward. The Abandoned roared in agreement again.
Justin stared me up and down and then looked from Woodstock to Chug and the Abandoned.
“Alright.” He said. “Let's do it. Fast.”
I smirked, and with that, we charged the kidnapped army.
51. Tornado Alley, Meet Disorder Walkway
Up above us, Dart roared a battle cry. The army of Agents shouted too, and began running down to meet us. If you got caught up in just watching them, the whole thing looked a little awesome.
And a lot scary. Mostly just scary.
I quickly refilled my yellow paintbrush and flung it at the nearest Agent. It wrapped around his foot as he ran down and he tripped. From there, the steps did a pretty good job of knocking him out. Part of me really hoped he was going to be okay.
Justin rushed ahead from behind me and grabbed the boy, then Zone-Hopped through the steps into a swirl of grayness.
To my right, Chug aimed his gun at the Agents running down. He must have come to the same conclusion as me about the stairs. Every Agent he shot, he hit them in the foot or the leg and they crumpled. Then each of them rolled down the steps and ended up with nice-sized welts. Justin shot by us and grabbed three of them at a time, making quick work of saving these Agents and helping us gain ground. Over to my left, Woodstock just swatted Agents aside like children. Just one hit from him and they were kissing the ground.
Woodstock's comment about the Abandoned made me a little uncomfortable about them fighting, but they quickly diffused my worries. Most of their attacks were in teams. One of them would charge at an Agent's lower body while the other would jump off their partner's back and tackle the Agent's face.
Mikey and Jamie had it down to a science. Mikey would swing his binoculars right into the side of an Agent's knee, causing him to buckle. Then Jamie leap-frogged over Mikey's shoulders and knock the Agent into the stairs.
With everyone's help, the amount of unconscious Agents on the steps around us grew, which would have been great if it didn’t make it harder to fight.
Up above me, Chug pointed behind me. “Lucy, look out!"
I turned to see what he was yelling at, and saw an Agent smart enough to wield a weapon coming up the steps.
Did I mention his weapon was a broken table leg?
A very jagged broken table leg.
He forced his way from below, knocking a few of the Abandoned off their feet. I took a step forward to flick my paint whip at him, but tripped over one of the students on the steps.
When I tried to get to my feet, the Agent I tripped over had his hand around my ankle.
“Let. GO!” I shouted, kicking the Agent's arm with each word. He kept a tight grip until the other Agent reached me. He held the makeshift stake above his head and a deathly grin appeared on his face. I couldn't escape. The Agent brought the makeshift stake down.
But it flew out of his hand and hit the stairs next to me before rolling out of sight. Then he fell too, falling on the oth
er side of me.
Justin replaced the boy standing over me. He drove a well-placed kick to the back of the neck of the Agent still grabbing my leg. The Agent went limp, and so did his grip.
“You alive?” He put his hand out to help me up.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Thanks.” I still didn't get why he was helping us. Or why he was alive. It'd been a little over a week since he killed himself trying to kill me. “Hey, how did—"
“It's time to switch jobs!” Justin shouted (very loudly, I might add). “If you can Zone-Hop, then help get all these Agents away from here!"
With that, he picked up the Agent who had the stake and the one who grabbed me and disappeared into a gray portal next to us.
Woodstock followed suit, grabbing an Agent in each arm before disappearing. A little ways below me on the steps, Alfonso lugged another Agent over his shoulders and followed Justin's example, looking happy to get out of danger.
Up above, Mikey, Jamie, Chug, and a few others had continued to fight. They were almost halfway up the stairs now. I ran to catch up, dipping my paintbrush in the canister on the way. I flung my whip at Agent after Agent and before long, the others and I fell into a consistent rhythm. We knocked a few Agents out, and right when it got hard to move, Justin and the others backed us up. I wasn't sure if it had something to do with being hypnotized or something, but these Agents weren't proving that difficult.
I could feel my heart beating faster. Dart wasn't too much farther away. A little more. A little longer, and we could help him. So if you're asking, yes, that's exactly when things went wrong.
Mikey noticed it first. He swung his binoculars into an Agent's leg, then looked up and froze. Jamie went to jump over him and his face just hit the back of Mikey's neck. Then I realized it was a lot darker, like a giant cloud was right over us.
“Guys...” Mikey said. He pointed right above us. I followed his finger up to the five giant black twisters that threatened to swallow us up from the ground a moment ago. They were raised above us now...and they were coming right at us.
I couldn't tell from where, but it was definitely Woodstock's voice that yelled “Brace yourselves!” right before Disorder's tornadoes came down on top of us.